The first baby I ever caught at home was born **on** her ultrasound due
date, which was 3 weeks before her due date based on last period.  She had
every possible sign of being 37 weeks old and was born after a long but
otherwise unremarkable second stage.  Of course labor began spontaneously
less than 24 hours after pre-labor rupture of membranes the day before.
Baby was vigorous and alert and weighed less than 6 pounds.  Found the
breast with minimal help and latched spontaneously within about an hour and
I still use photos of her in lectures about good practice for the
establishment of breastfeeding.

I left this new family with their firstborn child, practically ordering them
to wake her and put her to the breast if she slept more than 3 hours at a
stretch.  I made home visits on days one, three and five post partum before
turning them over to community care by the health visitor.  She had lost 30
g (one ounce) from birth weight by day three, milk was in and she was
producing loose, curdy yellow stools.  Mother experienced no problems during
the entire course of breastfeeding, which lasted around 2 years, I think.

When she was about a year old they revealed to me that they had let her
sleep and self-regulate from the first moment, and she had slept 5-6 hours
every night without feeding, in their bed.  They didn't dare tell me at the
time, for fear I would need to scold them for not following my instructions.
We all had a good laugh about it.  Draw whatever lesson you can from this
story.  I think there are several to be learned here.
Rachel Myr
Norway

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